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What ESPN Has to Do With Improving Health

By Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 04/24/19, 12:00PM PDT

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Of course, sports can be fun and entertaining and has evolved into a big business. However, when played appropriately, sports can also be an important health intervention.

If you are wondering what ESPN stands for, it's not "extrasensory perception and noshing." Literally, ESPN stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. But philosophically, based on their 2018 Corporate Citizenship Report, one of the things that ESPN is standing for is "Using the power of sports to create social change."

ESPN has evolved substantially since its founding in 1979 when its early broadcasts featured sportscasters wearing jackets with enormous lapels. Since then many of the lapels have shrunk but ESPN's reach and range of activities have grown. ESPN now includes multiple television channels, a radio network, podcasts, digital content, a magazine, and ESPN+, an on-demand platform.